


Resurface

by inwhatfurnace



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Pacific Rim Fusion, Free! Kink Meme, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-08
Updated: 2013-09-08
Packaged: 2017-12-26 00:28:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/959405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inwhatfurnace/pseuds/inwhatfurnace
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You took me with you,” Haruka says. “You took me with you to the bottom of the ocean.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Resurface

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fill for a fantastic Pacific Rim AU prompt at the [Free! Kink Meme](http://iwatobiswimclub.dreamwidth.org/), originally found [here](http://iwatobiswimclub.dreamwidth.org/1476.html?thread=887236#cmt887236).

The Pacific Ocean is cold and endless, and he has never wanted to be out of the water like this before.

Piloting their Jaeger alone is devastating: he can feel his muscles seizing up, his brain overloading. Something drips down his chin – blood, probably. From his nose, his mouth, and he doesn’t have much time before his vision turns red. 

He can see the lights that line Tokyo Bay, skyscrapers and bridges that seem lifetimes away. Maybe he should turn around, just walk into the ocean and let their Jaeger sink him to the bottom. Maybe that would be better. It would certainly be easier.

Rin is gone.

-

“I need you back,” Amakata says. “The entire Jaeger Program needs you back.”

They’re on the beach, but the sky is dark, and the rain comes down in sheets. The waves crash on the shore, high and fierce. Amakata holds her umbrella over the both of them. “We have a partner for you.”

“I was catatonic for a month,” Haruka replies. “I have too much baggage.”

“The program’s failing,” she presses on. “Our funding will be gone within the year. Iwatobi and Samezuka will be shut down. There won’t be anymore new pilots.”  
“They seem sure the Walls will work.”  
“They won’t.”

Haruka says nothing, and Amakata walks away, taking her umbrella with her as she heads back to the street.

“Who is it?”

Amakata turns back to him. “Makoto Tachibana. Your sync scores from Iwatobi are more than enough to pilot a Jaeger.”

Haruka exhales, rain running down his face, and Amakata smiles. “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat,” she says. “F. Scott Fitzgerald.”

-

Makoto hasn’t seen Nagisa in years, not since their training at Iwatobi together. The young man practically leaps into his arms, and Makoto almost falls to the floor.

“It’s been way too long, Makoto! How are you? I heard you got called in to pilot?”

When Makoto is finally out of Nagisa’s grip, Nagisa’s partner bows politely. “Rei Ryugazaki,” he says. 

“Nice to meet you,” Makoto replies, then turns back to Nagisa. “I just received my transfer orders two days ago.”

“But who’s your partner? All of us are already paired off.”  
“I couldn’t believe it, but Amakata said – she told me – Haru.”

“Haru?!” Nagisa shouts, and Rei frowns, disbelieving.  
“Haru? As in Ningyo Delta’s Haruka Nanase? He’s been gone for years!”

“He’ll be here tomorrow. Amakata told me they’ve repaired Ningyo and that she’s convinced Haruka to pilot again.”

“That’s fantastic! It’ll be like we never left Iwatobi!” Nagisa throws his hands up in celebration, and Makoto does his best to smile encouragingly.

-

The Tokyo Shatterdome is all that’s left of Japan’s once glorious Jaeger program – Nagisa and Rei’s Jaeger, Juliett Hime, is the only one left in the hangar, and more likely than not, she will be the last Mark-4 built by Japan. Nagisa insists on calling it _Pu-rin-sesu Juliett_ , and from what Makoto can tell, it’s mostly to annoy Rei. 

Ningyo Delta, on the other hand, is a late Mark-2. The last time Makoto saw it on TV, it had looked battle-worn and ancient, a relic of the good old days of the Kaiju War.

-

The sirens and strobe lights go off at four in the morning, and Makoto runs to Mission Control to watch the pilots sync with their Jaegers. 

“We have a Category 2, codename Lowlander. The kaiju is currently fifty miles south of Yokohama. Juliett Hime, confront with caution."  
Nagisa and Rei's shout of “Roger!” fills the room, and Makoto watches the two of them on the screen - they seem easy and simple together.

“Initiating Neural Handshake in thirty seconds.”

-

“I tried to convince Nagisa to pair up with you instead,” Amakata says as they walk out to the helicopter pad. “He wouldn’t even listen to me.”

It’s a beautiful morning, and Makoto can see the helicopter on the horizon. 

“Nervous?” Amakata winks at him, and Makoto just smiles back.  
“It’s been a while,” he replies. They both put an arm up to shield their eyes as the helicopter lands.

Haruka jumps from the helicopter easily, and suddenly Makoto feels nauseous, _what if I’m not good enough, not compared to –_

But Haruka just walks up to him and puts both hands on Makoto’s shoulders. Haruka leans in close, and when their foreheads knock together, Makoto gives him a weak smile.

“How was your flight, Haruka? Ready to get back into the swing of things?” Amakata asks, and Haruka shrugs.

“You still have a pool?”  
“Of course.”  
“Then I’ll be fine.”

-

“We fixed her up just for you two,” Amakata leads them into Ningyo’s hangar, where the Jaeger stands proudly. “With all the upgrades, she’s technically a Mark-3.”

Ningyo Delta is still covered in scaffolding, and the whine of power tools is grating, but Makoto knows it looks nothing like it did on TV – this Jaeger is new, not a dent or scratch to be seen.

Haruka stares silently up at the Jaeger, but Makoto thinks he sees the hint of a smile on his face.

Amakata motions for them to follow her back out of the hangar. “I’m sure you’ll get to take her out soon,” she says. “The kaiju attacks have been getting closer together recently.”

-

“Initiating Neural Handshake in five, four, three, two…”

Drifting with Haruka is cool and clear and – well, like swimming. Makoto doesn’t want to say that fighting kaiju is easy, but with Haruka, it is. They charge out to sea and take down the monsters almost effortlessly, and when Rei and Nagisa back them up, fighting seems more like a video game than real life.

Makoto had thought that piloting a Jaeger in water would be slow and cumbersome, but he and Haru make quick, easy decisions that lead to smooth, fluid movements, like their Jaeger was made for battle at sea.

But there’s always something else there in the Drift, something red and sharp that wants to be recognized, and Makoto knows exactly who it is.

-

Amakata calls them all in for a meeting one day, tapping a pen nervously against her desk.

“I just got a call from the Sydney Shatterdome,” Amakata’s words are slow and careful, like she’s afraid she’ll scare them away. “They’re closing down. They have two Japanese pilots and two technicians stationed there that they’re sending home. They’ll be here by the end of the month.”

“That’s good, right? We need all the help we can get,” Rei says, and Amakata hesitates.  
“There’s something else. One of those pilots, he’s – they have Rin Matsuoka.”

“What?!” Nagisa and Rei yell at the same time, and immediately begin barraging Amakata with questions. _Where did they find him? How long ago? Is he ok? Can he still pilot?_

Makoto turns to look at Haruka – he’s completely still, expression is blank as he stares at the wall behind Amakata.

“Haru,” Makoto says gently, and Haruka flinches. 

“I felt him leave me,” he murmurs, and then turns and walks out of the room.

-

Galea Shocker is a Mark-3, made in Japan but stationed in Australia, sent to assist with kaiju attacks in the southern Pacific Ocean. Pilots: Rin and Gou Matsuoka.

“She sacrifices defense for speed,” Rei observes as four military helicopters maneuver the Jaeger into its hangar.  
“A Jaeger that’ll fight quick and dirty, right?” Nagisa grins. “Don’t worry, Rei, she’s not as pretty as our Princess.”  
“I don’t know why I even bother anymore,” Rei sighs. Nagisa laughs, and bumps his shoulder against Rei’s. 

Nagisa stares up at the Jaeger. “Rin will be here tomorrow.”  
“Do you think they’ll be ok?” Rei asks, and Nagisa just puts his head on Rei’s shoulder.

-

The technicians from the Sydney Shatterdome arrive first. Aiichiro Nitori and Seijuro Mikoshiba introduce themselves at breakfast, and no one says anything about the fact that Haruka is missing.

“We’re the ones who recognized him,” Mikoshiba explains. “They found him washed up on the beach near the Shatterdome, and I said to Nitori when they brought him in, _hey, isn’t that Ningyo Delta’s Rin Matsuoka?_ ”  
“He was in a coma for a month,” Nitori adds, frowning at his food. “They contacted his sister, and she insisted on staying and piloting with him when he woke up.”  
Makoto looks up. “Oh, Gou Matsuoka? She was at Iwatobi when we were, I remember her.”  
“You guys were at Iwatobi? Nice!” Mikoshiba claps Makoto on the back. “Nitori and I went to Samezuka.”

“How terrible,” Rei says. “I can’t even imagine what that must have been like for Haruka and Rei.”  
“He must have Ghost Drifted, and knowing that Rin was…” Nagisa trails off, and the two of them scoot a little closer together.

Makoto knows what that feels like, but only from the vague, liquid memories that are found in the Drift. Even what little Haruka lets slip through is almost unbearable.

-

Nagisa had told Makoto to meet him and Rei in Ningyo’s hangar before lunch; the two had wanted to see the new and improved Jaeger. 

But the pair Makoto finds standing at Ningyo Delta’s feet isn’t Nagisa and Rei at all, and he ducks behind a nearby forklift, trying to work up the nerve to sneak away before they notice him.

“You took me with you,” Haruka says. “You took me with you to the bottom of the ocean.”  
Rin frowns, and then carefully runs his hands down Haruka’s arms. Haruka closes his eyes when Rin takes Haruka’s hands in his. They stand in silence for what must be minutes.  
“I swam,” Rin mutters suddenly, voice strained, and Haruka jolts, eyes open again. “I swam back.”

Makoto quietly backs away, this isn’t something he’s supposed to be seeing – he might even be less embarrassed if he caught the two of them in bed together.

He finds Rei and Nagisa in the cafeteria, and just smiles while the two of them apologize for forgetting about meeting him.

-

_All Rangers report to the hangar, two kaiju three hours east of Saitama, awaiting categorization…all personnel to their stations…Repeat, all Rangers report to the hangar…_

Makoto’s dash from his room to the hangar is interrupted when someone hooks an arm around his neck and presses their foreheads together. 

“I’m gonna tell Haru!” Nagisa shouts as he and Rei jog past, his laugh echoing down the hall.

Rin huffs out sigh, and then closes his eyes. It seems impolite to just stare at Rin’s face, so Makoto looks down at the ground. They stand there for a minute, before Makoto feels Rin pull away.

“Come with me,” he says, and Makoto just stares at him. “Trust me. Now move!”  
“Wait, does Amakata know?”  
“That’s not important.”

Rin takes Makoto’s arm in his and begins to run to the hangar, dodging technicians heading the other way.

“But Haru -”  
“He needs more time. I’m working on it,” Rin looks over his shoulder. “There’s two kaiju out there. My sync scores with Gou aren’t as good as when I was with Haru.”  
“But I’m not -”  
“You’re close enough,” Rin insists, and that’s the last time Makoto protests.

“Are you ready?” Nitori’s voice is a little shaky, and Makoto can hear plenty of shouting going on at Mission Control. “We have two Category 3 kaiju two and a half hours out from Saitama. Codenamed Hellion and Deposer.”  
“Good to go,” Rin replies.  
“Initiating Neural Handshake in thirty seconds.”

“All you have to do is trust me,” Rin says, looking straight ahead.

“Twenty seconds.”

“What about Haru? And your sister?”

"Ten seconds.”

Rin smirks. “Gou understands. And you and I have Haru right here.” He knocks his knuckles against the side of his head.

“Three, two…”

The Drift is alarmingly familiar – cool and clear and quiet. But that small, unbearable memory Haruka has is replaced by something desperate for praise and recognition and _look at me!_

“See?” Rin looks thrilled as they test Ningyo’s arms, her legs. “We’re gonna be just fine.”

-

Rin kisses him the hallway on the way back to their rooms, hard and quick and victorious. Rin’s escape is easy – he just ducks into his quarters and shuts the door. When Makoto turns, Haruka is there.

“He gets a little caught up after Drifting,” Haruka says with a small shrug of his shoulders. “It’s meant to be motivational.”  
“Motivational kissing?” Makoto echoes back, baffled.  
“It works,” Haruka replies with a small smile, and heads back to his room.

-

“I hear there’s a Chinese Jaeger with three pilots instead of two,” Nagisa waggles his eyebrows as he and Rei take a seat across from Makoto. “Is it weird having two copilots instead of one?”

Makoto stares at his lunch tray before looking up at Nagisa.  
“It’s funny, Haru and Rin couldn’t be more different, but in the Drift…they’re almost the same.”  
“I’ve read studies about that,” says Rei, ignoring Nagisa as he pretends to push glasses up his nose. “Copilots that Drift together often begin to resemble each other, take on each other’s mannerisms. It would make sense for their mental states while Drifiting to be the similar too.”  
“That would explain why Rin’s in the pool all the time,” Nagisa agrees.

“Drifting with Haruka must be beautiful,” Rei says wistfully, earning a punch in the shoulder from Nagisa.  
“What?! So Princess Juliett and I aren’t good enough for you anymore?!”

-

“We’re being shut down,” Amakata announces to the entire crew, holding up a hand when the shouting starts. “Anyone who wants to leave will be honorably discharged, otherwise, we’re being transferred to the Hong Kong Shatterdome at the end of the month.”

Rin puts his hand on Makoto’s shoulder and says “we’re going, right?” and Makoto knows there it was never a question.

“Fortune favors the bold!” Amakata shouts before leaving, and the room cheers.

They barely have the money to transfer Ningyo Delta and Juliett Hime to Hong Kong, but Amakata makes it happen.

-

In Hong Kong, things start to blur together for Makoto – there are days he pilots with Haruka, others with Rin, and there are some days he can’t tell at all – days he sees Gou and smiles at her like a sister, and can feel water against his skin when Haruka dives into the pool halfway across the Dome.

When Rin’s kisses get a little quieter, and Haruka starts coming into his room just to lie next to him at night, Makoto wonders just what he’s gotten himself into.

By the time the Hong Kong scientists figure out how to close the Breach, all three of them are sleeping in the same bed together, Rin’s head on Makoto’s shoulder and Haruka pressed up against his chest.

No matter what happens with the kaiju, or the Jaeger Program, Makoto knows this is permanent.


End file.
